jvmediadesign's Xanga

Website Advertising & Questions to Ask Yourself After Your Launch

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 02:16:05 GMT

You’ve done your homework, researched your target market, researched your competitors, got a professionally designed website and just started promoting it. You’ve submitted your URL to Google (http://www.google.com/addurl/, set up an AdWords Campaign (http://www.google.com/intl/en/ads/), installed a blog, submitted your URL to relevant free directories, sent out a press release to newspaper and print magazines, and made sure to print your URL on all your business cards, letterhead, etc. So now you just sit back and wait for the business to start rolling in, right?

Not exactly…

Online advertising for your website is an on-going process that should be reviewed on a month-to-month basis. Don’t rely just on one avenue of promotion to skyrocket your site up the search engine rankings or dramatically increase your sales. A diversified plan monitored on a regular basis is your best bet for long-term success.

Blogs:

You’ve got your blog set up on your website but have you also submitted your blog to blog directory sites? Do you post regularly? Do you "ping" your blog every time you post? A previous article I wrote explains both submitting and pinging more thoroughly: http://ezinearticles.com/?So-You-Have-a-Blog,-Now-What-Do-You-Do-With-It?-Blog-Basics&id=49187

I must reiterate setting up your blog on your own website. Services like Blogger or Blogspot are nice and easy to use, but you get the most effective marketing use from a blog if it resides on your own website. Here's why: all the pages you add to your blog add to the content of your website. It also keeps your content fresh and up to date and increases the overall number of pages on your site, making it appear more favorable to engines like Google.

Also, you can double your marketing by submitting articles you write for your own blog with other sources such as http://www.ezinearticles.com and http://www.goarticles.com. It's free to sign up as an author and post articles. It's important at the bottom of your article to include a link back to your website (or page on your website that you would want people to land on). This gives you inbound links when others use your content on their website, another important factor the top search engines and directors take into account.

Press Releases:

If you’re not a writer, consider having a professional review your release before sending it out. Spelling and grammatical errors are a big no-no and a professional can rewrite or advise you on how to effectively promote your company, product, or service with a well-written release.

Don’t forget that there are now many online resources where you can submit your press releases. Prices range from free to $50+, depending on the additional services some sites offer with submission. One of my own favorites is http://www.webwire.com.

AdWords and More:

Setting up an AdWords campaign is the quickest way to get a listing in Google, so if you’ve taken that step, you’re on the right track. It’s important to continually evaluate how your key phrases are doing by analyzing the data in your AdWords account. For smaller campaigns it’s recommended to check this at least once a month and for larger ones, weekly to daily. This way you can determine which phrases are performing better than others so you can make the most out of your advertising dollars. It’s also a good idea to use Google’s Analytics program (placing small amounts of code on the website pages that you are directing visitors to in your advertisements).
Yahoo also has paid advertising you can check out: http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/as . Since Yahoo is a directory and not a search engine, they also have directory listings you can purchase to target your market worldwide, or just in your local area.

Sitemaps:

Have you made a Google Site Map for your site? You can check out Google's Webmaster tools at https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/docs/en/about.html or you can also use a free automated online sitemap generator such as: http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/ (and this site explains a lot more about the sitemaps http://www.auditmypc.com/free-sitemap-generator.asp). Then upload the file to your site, login to Google and submit the link to it. You can also do the same thing for Yahoo. These files help the crawler robots that visit your website by alerting them to all the pages on your site, the frequency that you update your site and other important information.

Banner Advertising:

I have found over time that banner advertising isn't as big of a bang for you buck for a small company as something like Google AdWords. The two positives of banner ads are that they may build brand recognition for you over time (people constantly seeing your company name/logo) and they can help direct potential customers right to a specific page on your site. The drawbacks are that a very small percentage of people actually click on the ads and they are usually costly (you can read a more in-depth article about that here: http://www.thomasclaburn.com/2002/06/the_banner_ad_is_dead_ok_not_r.html). If you do consider banner advertising, make sure the site you’re advertising on gives you a way to view statistical information about clicks from your banner and find out whether they charge per-click (and if they do, if they have any contingencies for click fraud), per month, or in some other manner.

Search Engine Optimization:

"SEO" or search engine optimization by a company that “specializes” in it is not something I usually recommend to our clients as simple and low-cost methods such as those mentioned here can be an effective marketing plan.

If you do consider a specialized company for this type of marketing I recommend you get a number of different quotes and exact details and costs of what services will be preformed. I do not recommend anyone re-write your website text for the sole purpose of loading it with key words and phrases. I do recommend you have a professional copywriter evaluate your text so that it is as effective as it possibly can be for your market and that key words and phrases are utilized in areas such as headline, page titles, images tags and your description tag (in your page code).

Google is still the top dog as far as engines go and Yahoo is the top directory site, so a simple focus on keyword campaigns is often much better use of your online advertising budget than paying a SEO company. Google's main qualifiers for ranking include: quality links (links to your site from other quality, well-ranked sites), quality content (it's important that your text is well-written for a human, not a robot), quality page coding (make sure each page has a title tag which can include your key words or phrases, every image has an "alt" tag which can also have descriptive keywords/phrases, and every page has a description tag - again with description words/phrases – your web designer/developer should be able to do this). Here is another good link to read to learn how the "Googlebot" works: http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/

Marketing is Not a One-Time Effort:

The last thing to remember is that marketing isn’t something you do once and forget about. It requires on-going effort and maintenance. You should be continually evaluating what works and what doesn’t while exploring even more new avenues. A few additional web resources you can check out to stay on top of your marketing efforts are:

http://www.jvmediadesign.com/blog/
http://www.wilsonweb.com
http://www.marketingpower.com

About the Author

Sherry Holub is the Creative Director at JV Media Deisgn. http://www.jvmediadesign.com

Your Old Website on the New Web or Why You May Need a Redesign

Tue, 25 Dec 2007 06:30:51 GMT

This summer, JV Media Design relocated from the bustling metropolis known as Southern California to the more rural and peaceful surroundings of Southern Oregon. I've spent the last couple months creating a marketing plan for our new local area and in so doing have met some wonderful business owners ï¿½" with some not-so-wonderful websites.

Seeing some of these "retro" sites on the web of today made me a little nostalgic but it also got me thinking that many businesses, no matter where they are located, have a, "build it once" attitude with their websites. Many believe they were innovators by having a website built in 1998 and have held on to that while the internet has evolved around them.

Of course, these are extreme examples; websites that have not changed in 10 years, but what about those websites that have not changed in 2 years? I find the large majority of clients who engage us to redesign their company website have not touched their old one in at least two years. Many factors go into the reasoning behind this but leaving a dated site on the web is like leaving a container of spoiled food in the fridge: sooner or later, you're going to have to deal with it and when you do, it may not be pretty.

Often, businesses are so busy with their day-to-day operations that their aging websites are put at the bottom of every corporate to-do list. What many companies fail to realize is how that moldy old website can actually be hurting the business rather than helping it.

First Impressions

Many viewers that find a business on the web may be getting their first impression of that company. If they are faced with cryptic navigation, out dated information or a dated design, like it or not theyâ€™re going to formulate an opinion about the business based on their initial reaction to the website.

First Considerations

It's important to think about the kind of initial look and message you want to convey when you start to tackle your redesign. A good design agency will help you in this process, but it's best to have a rough idea first.

Think about who your target market is. What is their age group? Have you previously done other successful marketing that can help guide you on redesigning the website? What sort of things would appeal to your market?

Remember who your market is when you consider things like animation, video, audio and other interactive, media-rich features. Don't be tempted into using something just because it's the new "hot thing". Make sure it works for your audience and within the new design.

Next you're going to want to think about what the goal(s) of your redesigned website is. Will it be to present updated information on the company or to sell more products? What is your call to action? A well designed website will lead the viewer to exactly what you want them to see.

Try to come up with a site map (an outline of the website pages) that will help you to focus in on the content and refine what information you want the viewers to see. Also be sure to include any specific features you want on the new site (for example, a shopping cart, a user forum, a blog ...)

Another thing you may want to consider is hiring a professional copywriter for your updated content. Many design agencies do not check copy for spelling or grammatical errors or even if it will make sense to your target audience. This is where a copywriter can make your site a standout and help you zero in on your viewers.

Knowing what you want out of your redesign in advance will really help the design team understand your needs.

The Final Wrap Up

Just because you've built it doesn't mean people will visit it. During the redesign think about how you will drive viewers to your site. Don't neglect traditional marketing in lieu of using only online marketing. Spread your marketing efforts around to see what works best.

Track how your redesigned website is doing. Most hosting companies provide statistical software that will help you determine how many visitors your site gets, which pages they are viewing most often and other helpful data. Additional resources such as Google Analytics can also give you valuable information on your viewer's behavior on your site.

Have a maintenance plan in place. Don't get sold on an expensive content management system if your site is small, or if you do not have a designated staff member who will be using that system to make updates. Many times I've seen elaborate content management systems on sites that were just as out of date as regular websites. Also, there are now many alternatives to a full system. Blogs, newsletters, and news software can be easy to learn and quick to manage.

Finally, remember that the internet is a constantly changing place. Be prepared to set aside time for your website so it stays consistent with your business goals and the needs of your target market.

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Sherry Holub received her degree in design from UCLA in 1995. She is now the Creative Director and Lead Designer at Southern California firm, JV Media Design (http://www.jvmediadesign.com). Sherry is also a member of the NAPP and the International Academy of the Visual Arts.

JV Media Design Hits YouTube.com!

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 23:33:32 GMT

We've just started to get out our new viral marketing campaign. We consult for and plan out similar viral and grass roots campaigns for our clients frequently, so we figured it was about time we did one of our own!

The series will feature the offical JV Media Design cat, Isis (as a kitten)! Isis was adopted by Sherry, the JVM Creative Director, when she was 8 weeks old (she's now 7) and her YouTube.com debut is not her first public appearance. She is in scene in the Los Angeles electronic music documentary, "Concentric Beats", she's been PetCo.com's "Pet of the Week", and she's even graced the pages of Cat Fancy (in the reader submissions, but hey, that's still in there!).

Here is a direct link to the first video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsj0ygjoXks

The latest trend ... pirated websites.

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 01:05:42 GMT

Yesterday we found another instance of someone out on the internet who has stolen our website and is calling it their own.

This seems to be a new, disturbing trend and more people need to know it's happening.

Read more through my post here:
http://www.digg.com/programming/Theft_of_Entire_Websites_Is_It_Happening_to_You

When Custom Isn’t Custom

Sat, 14 Apr 2007 18:02:30 GMT

I have seen a pattern forming over the years where we will be contacted by a potential client with a story such as, “I paid over $5000 four months ago to have my ecommerce site built and it’s still up and the designers won’t fix it!”. I’m not a big fan of stories like this. For one, this means that this potential client has already spent their budget having something created that didn’t actually meet their needs - meaning that they do not have the budget to pay the going rate for having the site done properly. But the more disturbing aspect is when I have a look at what has already been built and find out that the ecommerce website is really nothing more than OsCommerce.

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with OsCommerce, it is a FREE shopping cart solution built by many different programmers to be offered as “open-source“. It’s fine if a client really has a bare-bones budget because hey, it’s free. When we use a free solution such as OsCommerce, what we charge the client for is simply installing, customizing the template, and setting up initial categories, shipping, etc. Unless you are programming or installing many additional complex modules to interact with the base cart, I really can not fathom why a job using OsCommerce would cost $5000 or more. To me, this screams of shady business practices.

I’ve said this in a number of other articles, that I believe honesty is always the best policy. If you are using any sort of pre-developed software (whether it’s free or if you are paying for it), do not fool your client into believing that they are receiving 100% custom work. I find that even when using software, there are aspects that are custom (usually the design), but we make clear in our estimates and contracts which is which and what the client is actually paying for.

Designers and programmers are always on the look out for things that can help them while doing a job, everything from free scripts to stock photos to the latest software. As a designer or programmer, you have to judge for yourself what works best for you and what would benefit your client the most. I find the clients are much more comfortable working with you when they know exactly what you are doing for them and what they paying for and it’s simply more ethical to let a client know when you are using a free or pre-built solution.

How to think like a web designer

Sun, 11 Mar 2007 00:58:08 GMT

I've noticed over the years that when I start a new web design project I've developed my own process. I imagine that most designers will say the same thing. Sure we might all follow certain principals, but I've discovered that I usually think about three things:

   1. The initial concept/creative idea
   2. Usability
   3. Secondary design such as colors, images, etc.

I'll open up a new Photoshop document (usually at 1024 px size or greater since the majority of internet surfers are at that resolution or higher) and basically just start placing elements on the page (logos, images, menu items, etc.). This is what I like to call the "collage" phase. Often times I revert to this if that initial concept hasn't come to me yet, but even if I have a concept in mind, I like to try different placement of elements to see what works best. I often compare it to interior design of a room - you move the furniture around to see what the best placement and "flow" is.

As I'm creating and moving elements around the page, I'm thinking about two other things: how will this translate to an actual webpage (for example, can I make it 100% css, how will I "cut up" the page, etc.) and how useable the site will be to visitors. By this point in a project I've either researched or learned more details from the client about their specific target audience. This is important information to know when building a site because a site targeted to children will be completely different than a site targeted to adults, and so on.

If a client doesn't have a specific color scheme in mind, I may try several different ones to see what works best. With color and imagery (photos) I review the target audience details one more time as this plays a major role in how the design will appeal to the majority of visitors to the site.

Of course after the initial design is shown to the client there are often rounds of changes and revisions to get that "perfect" look. Here is where I combine my experience with the wishes of the client. A good designer will know how to, what I call, "tread the line", and be able to explain professionally to a client why one of their ideas might not work or how to incorporate something the client wants and make it work in a design. No one likes to be told they have a horrible idea, but I generally like to steer well clear of things like blinking animated gifs, white text or a black background, and other general no-no's.

This is a really simplified explanation on the thought process involved when first started to design a new website. Every project worked on is unique and the more you design, the more experience you gain on how to handle different projects and clients. In time, you will develop your own process that works, but don't forget to incorporate the basics (design principals) and consider the usability of your finished design.

About the Author
Sherry Holub received her degree in design from UCLA in 1995. She is now the Creative Director and Lead Designer at Southern California firm, JV Media Design (http://www.jvmediadesign.com). Sherry is also a member of the NAPP and the International Academy of the Visual Arts.

Design Based on Your Business

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 04:25:19 GMT

You can't go wrong with design standards, but you can improve your website design by considering both your business and your target audience.

One of the first things we have our new clients do is browse around the web and find at least 3 sites they like and tell us what it is they like about them. This helps us to get a feel for the general design style that the client finds pleasing. We also ask a series of questions that include; information about the general business (what industry is the business in?), who the target market of the site is, who is the competition, what color scheme is preferred and determine what the site map (navigation) for the new site will be. Finally, we ask the client if they want to include any specific images within the overall design of the front page or any sub page of the website. This information is enough to get started on concept designs for the site.

So how does what industry a company is in play such an important role in how the site is designed? Simple, when you start to associate industries with target markets. For instance, say your client is a new rock band. Generally, the target audiences for rock bands can be considered teens to 30-somethings. The design has to reflect what appeals to this market. It can have audio and video, be completed animated using Flash with graphics that reflect the style of the band. There doesn't have to be a great deal of text, so the design relies heavily on imagery and audio. Now take for instance that your client is a company that is in the business of leasing to large corporations. This is about as far away as you can go from a rock band and this client has very different needs and a very different target market. Since this company's target market is other corporations, specifically those in that corporation that are responsible to obtaining financing, the design is going to have to convey credibility, success, professionalism, etc. They'll have to assume that the first thing people want to see is a clean, professional site that is easy to navigate. People will need to find critical information quickly and won't be so concerned about a "flashy" intro or extraneous animation.

From b2b/b2c ecommerce, to health providers and every industry in between, you must take into consideration the industry and target market to produce effective web design.

About the Author

Sherry Holub received her degree in design from UCLA in 1995. She is now the Creative Director and Lead Designer at Southern California firm, JV Media Design (http://www.jvmediadesign.com). Sherry is also a member of the NAPP and the International Academy of the Visual Arts.

Better Project Management

Sat, 10 Feb 2007 17:37:47 GMT

Managing a project is a crucial step in the overall success of the job. Whether you’re a firm or a freelancer, you should occasionally evaluate the way projects are being managed to improve and refine the process.
Here are some tips on how to manage your time and projects, whether you work for a firm, or freelance.

1. Be realistic. If you aren’t the person who does project estimating, be sure that you go over projects with this person so that realistic job timeliness can be created. Review your current workload and estimate what the next month’s workload might be, then go over all the details of the job. On large projects, be sure to create a time line with milestones where clients will need to sign off or review the progress to date. If there are any questions on any part of the job, be sure to ask those before delivering a finalized time line.

2. Don’t be afraid to to tell the truth. If you find you are too busy to take on more work, review your current projects and estimate how long it will take you to catch up, then tell your client that you will be able to start their job on a select date. Telling your client you can start right away when you really can not will only serve to frustrate your client and stress you out! Most clients are very understanding with this.

3. Remember that time is money. Organization is a skill every project manager should posses. Every minute of the day that you spend looking for documents, emails, files, etc. add up to a whole lot of wasted time. Develop a uniform process of managing each project. There are a number of software solutions out there to help in this process (I personally use BaseCamp).

4. Update. Update. Update. Yes, it’s really that important that I had to type it three time in a row! This applies to updating your projects, your designers, and your clients. Projects should be updated on a daily basis so you always know which phase of development a project is in at any time. Clients should be periodically updated when there is something for them to review, if there are any delays, etc. On large projects, I like to update clients on a weekly basis and present them with a list of things that have been done during the week and any visual or online progress examples. Designers need to be updated when clients make comments, changes, etc.

5. Keep the train on the tracks. Make sure your team is all on the same page. If you notice someone not following job specs, you need to step in and make sure they understand what they need to be doing to avoid any delays.

How to Quote a Web Design Project

Sun, 28 Jan 2007 20:38:44 GMT

Designers who are just starting out often ask me how to price jobs properly. Of course many people have come up with their own formula for doing this. Also with the variety of hourly rates, quotes can have a wide range between different designers.

Without getting into how to determine your hourly rate, here are the top 10 things to consider when preparing an estimate:

1. How many hours will you spend creating a project brief for your client?

2. How difficult is the actual job (for example: do you need to do additional training or outsource to handle any aspect of the project)?

3. How many hours do you estimate (or want to allot to) for client meetings (including travel time) and phone time?

4. How many hours do you estimate for any research you may have to do before starting a project?

5. How many hours will you spend creating concept designs?

6. How many hours will you spend on layout or assembly?

7. How many hours will you spend on error-checking (for websites)?

8. Will you be handling any other aspects of the project such as photography, copy writing, printing ..?

9. Will you need to purchase any software, scripts, fonts, stock photos or other materials in order to complete the job?

10. Will you need to offer training (for example, training the client to use a shopping cart administration area) before the project is complete?

The more jobs you do, the more experience you will gain and you will be able to modify this list to how you work.

Note: Before starting on any project, be sure to have your client sign a contract or agreement (and it's a good idea to have a lawyer look over this before you start using it).

Simple Ways Your Business Can Be "Greener"

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 16:45:38 GMT

Environmental issues and eco-friendly business practices are important to us at JV Media Design. Several years ago we made a conscious effort to, "reduce, reuse, & recylce" and we believe that it's not very difficult for other businesses to do the same.

Here are some quick tips on how your business can become more environmentally friendly, without too much effort or expense. These same principals can be applied to other areas of your life and home as well as your business.

Recycle

Recycling can take many shapes and forms. For instance, you can start purchasing recycled paper for your office machines such as printers, copiers, and faxes.

Recycled paper is now widely available at office supply and paper stores.

If you have a large office with many employees, set up recycling bins for soda cans, plastics, glass, and paper and find a nearby recycling service that you can take these items to.

When equipment or computers become obsolete, consider donating the items to a local charity or school (check out the Computers for Schools Program at http://www.pcsforschools.org/howhlp/howtodon.html)instead of setting them out by the dumpster (many computer items contain hazardous materials and should never just be thrown in the trash). When you upgrade your cell phones, be sure to recycle those as well. If you can't find a local drop off point, you can visit http://www.recyclemycellphone.org/recycle.cfm. If you need to upgrade your office furniture, consider purchasing used furniture or donating your old furniture.

Buy other recycled products (aka "post-consumer waste" products) for your business such as recycled paper towels, packaging materials and other supplies.

Offer or Ask For Alternatives

If your business involves manufacturing or the sale of products, explore environmentally friendly alternatives. Non-toxic, recycled, or organic alternatives are available. Often times, recycled materials can even be less expensive that new raw materials.

Even services companies like ours can offer alternatives. For instance, we offer eco-friendly printing (printing using recycled paper and vegetable based inks) to our clients as well as a web hosting alternative that is powered by wind and sun (renewable) resources.

Consider the Commute

Although not every business can be a home-based one, there are ways to reduce the effects of commuting on the environment.

If you have employees, try to organize a car pool. If you live close to the workplace, considering walking, riding a bike, or taking public transportation (in many large cities, some bus lines run on natural gas or electric).

Consider buying a TerraPass (http://www.terrapass.org) for yourself or your employees.

If you're in the market for a new company vehicle, look into purchasing a hybrid.

If you are part of a large company or corporation, try to institute breaking up the work shifts to help reduce the amount of traffic on the road at peak hours.

Go "Paperless" & Get Online

Make your office paperless by converting to electronic billing or invoicing, sending electronic faxes and email, and even selling online.

Having a website is an important marketing tool, but you can also offer your clients and customers a way to grab things like forms or documents online by having them on your website. You can also collect and store data by having a database programmed into your site and send your clients an electronic newsletter instead of a paper one.

Evaluate Your Environment

Can your business be using less power? Two simple ways to reduce power consumption is to install energy efficient lighting/light bulbs and to power down equipment or computers when they are not in use (weekends, evenings, holidays).

If you have a small business, considering opening windows and doors and using low-power fans instead of the air conditioning on warm days.

Large businesses and corporations in high-rise buildings can research becoming part of an energy management program such as The Energy Coalition (http://www.energycoalition.org) in California.

You can also help to improve your indoor air quality by using a hepa or ionic filter or even adding some live plants to your environment. More information on indoor air quality can be found on the Environmental Protection Agency website at http://www.epa.gov/iaq/is-imprv.html.

Get Involved

Consider researching and either volunteering or making a contribution to a non-profit environmental organization. A good place to start your research is CharityEvaluator.org (http://www.charitynavigator.org) and Give.org (http://www.give.org/reports/index.asp). Both sites can help you make intelligent decisions on finding and supporting charities.

Some of the environmental charity/non-profit organizations we support include: Co-Op America (http://www.coopamerica.org) The Conservation Fund (http://www.conservationfund.org/) Environmental Health Coalition (http://www.environmentalhealth.org) Coalition For Clean Air (http://www.coalitionforcleanair.org) Sustainable Northwest (http://www.sustainablenorthwest.org/) The Sierra Club http://www.sierraclub.org/

As you can see, "going green" doesn't have to be difficult and can make a big difference.

About the Author

Sherry Holub received her degree in design from UCLA in 1995. She is now the Lead Designer and Creative Director at Southern California firm, JV Media Design (http://www.jvmediadesign.com). Sherry is also a member of the NAPP, AIGA, the International Academy of the Visual Arts (IAVA), and Cambridge Who's Who.